Faking participant identity: Vested interests and purposeful interference

Fronek, Patricia; Briggs, Lynne

doi:10.1177/1747016117740177

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 13 publications

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“… 2. We had reasons to believe that some of our participants acted fraudulently owing to the financial incentives offered in our studies (including repeated questions/emails about payment). Nevertheless, we cannot be certain of the reasons underlying their behavior, especially in light of at least one case of politically motivated interference outside the field of autism research (see Fronek & Briggs, 2018). …”

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confidence: 99%

Letter to the Editor: A possible threat to data integrity for online qualitative autism research

Pellicano,

Adams,

Crane

et al. 2023

Autism

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Researchers are increasingly relying on online methods for data collection, including for qualitative research involving interviews and focus groups. In this letter, we alert autism researchers to a possible threat to data integrity in such studies: “scammer” participants, who may be posing as autistic people and/or parents of autistic children in research studies, presumably for financial gain. Here, we caution qualitative autism researchers to be vigilant of potential scammer participants in their online studies and invite a broader discussion about the implications of such fraudulent acts. Lay abstract Doing research online, via Zoom, Teams, or live chat, is becoming more and more common. It can help researchers to reach more people, including from different parts of the world. It can also make the research more accessible for participants, especially those with different communication preferences. However, online research can have its downsides too. We have recently been involved in three studies in which we had in-depth discussions with autistic people and/or parents of autistic children about various topics. It turns out, though, that some of these participants were not genuine. Instead, we believe they were “scammer participants”: people posing as autistic people or parents of autistic children, possibly to gain money from doing the research. This is a real problem because we need research data that we can trust. In this letter, we encourage autism researchers to be wary of scammer participants in their own research.

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confidence: 99%

Letter to the Editor: A possible threat to data integrity for online qualitative autism research

Pellicano,

Adams,

Crane

et al. 2023

Autism

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Protecting nurse survey participants: Ethical considerations for conducting survey research among nurses

2021

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The nurse perspective is critical in survey research investigating various aspects of healthcare services, staff, and patient outcomes. Researchers are responsible for ensuring that survey research utilizing survey questionnaires employs research methodological strategies that are aligned with the ethical principles of beneficence, respect for persons, and justice. The purpose of this paper is to discuss best practices to facilitate high-quality survey data collection for nurse survey participants. Recommendations are based on the fundamental ethical principles described in the Belmont Report, an overview of evidence published in the current literature, and the application of practical knowledge. Literature searches conducted in PubMed resulted in the inclusion of over 50 articles from a wide range of disciplines. The results include actionable methods for researchers to consider and follow when conducting survey research utilizing nurse participants. This article serves as a resource to guide researchers through ethically responsible design, implementation, and reporting of nurse survey research.

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Data Integrity Issues With Web-Based Studies: An Institutional Example of a Widespread Challenge

French,

Babbage,

Bird

et al. 2024

JMIR Ment Health

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This paper reports on the growing issues experienced when conducting internet-based research. Non-genuine participants, repeat responders, and misrepresentation are common issues in health research posing significant challenges to data integrity. A summary of existing data on the topic and the different impacts on studies is presented. Seven case studies experienced by different teams within our institutions are then reported, primarily focused on mental health research. Finally, strategies to combat these challenges are presented, including protocol development, transparent recruitment practices, and continuous data monitoring. These strategies and challenges impact the entire research cycle and need to be considered prior to, during and post data collection. With a lack of current clear guidelines on this topic, this report attempts to highlight considerations to be taken to minimise the impact of such challenges on researchers, studies and wider research. Researchers conducting online research must put mitigating strategies in place, and reporting on mitigation efforts should be mandatory in grant applications and publications to uphold the credibility of online research.

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Faking participant identity: Vested interests and purposeful interference

Cited by 4 publications

References 13 publications

Letter to the Editor: A possible threat to data integrity for online qualitative autism research

Letter to the Editor: A possible threat to data integrity for online qualitative autism research

Protecting nurse survey participants: Ethical considerations for conducting survey research among nurses

Data Integrity Issues With Web-Based Studies: An Institutional Example of a Widespread Challenge

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